Given name & surname · also Indian
Irfan
“one who is knowledgeable”·“one who is thankful”
Irfan is used as a given name and a surname. Interpretations include “one who is knowledgeable” and “one who is thankful”. These belong to different or overlapping naming contexts.
Meaning & origin
What it means
Interpretations include “one who is knowledgeable” and “one who is thankful”. These belong to different or overlapping naming contexts.
Where it comes from
This spelling has been associated with Indian and Arabic naming traditions.
How it developed
From Arabic عِرْفَان (ʕirfān, “knowledge”); its root is Arabic ع ر ف.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1969. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Irfan through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 696
- 696 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 2025
- 29 babies
- 2025
- 29
- #3,797 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +22%
- Rising
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 29 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 3,797 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 22.2% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. In 2025, New York had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (5). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 2,221 as a first name in 2020; 1,462 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Irfan’s family of names
Irfan has a related form in Irfen. Irfan has a related form in Irfin. Irfan has a related form in Irfon.
Inner ring: spellings · outer: nicknames and forms.
Nicknames & forms 5
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 2
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
People named Irfan
- Irrfan KhanIndian actor (1967–2020)
- Irfan BachdimIndonesian association football playerborn 1988
- Irfan SmajlagićCroatian handball playerborn 1961
- Irfan HabibIndian Marxist historianborn 1931
- Irfan PathanIndian cricketerborn 1984
- Irfan FandiSingaporean footballerborn 1997
- K. T. IrfanIndian Olympian racewalkerborn 1990
- Irfan HorozovićBosnian writer1947–2025
- Irfan LjubijankićBosniak musician, diplomat and politician (1952-1995)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
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